The Way You Make Me Feel
by Mylari
Summary: Mark has an interesting day at Center Neptune.
1. Prompt 142 - Squandered

I own nothing except the voices in my head.

This story was written in response to Bradbury Jar prompts 142-154 at Gatchamania

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"Princess, this is Mark, got your ears on?" The commander frowned at the bracelet on his wrist when it remained stubbornly silent. "Princess, respond." He tried again, but there was still no response. Concern etched itself onto his face; it wasn't like her to fail to answer his private messages. Worrying that something was wrong, Mark stalked through Center Neptune searching for the silent swan. Poking his head into the ready room, he saw Tiny working his way through a pile of spaceburgers while Jason sat on the couch and thumbed through a racing magazine.

"Hey guys, have either of you seen Princess recently?"

Tiny mumbled something incoherently through his mouthful of food. Getting the impression that it was a negative response, Mark merely raised an eyebrow at the Phoenix's pilot and decided to save the lecture on manners for another time. Sighing, he turned to Jason, hoping for a better answer. Jason turned the magazine's page before answering his commander, not bothering to look up. "I think she mentioned something about Zark asking her for input on some explosive mixtures earlier, but that was a few hours ago. I haven't seen her since."

Realizing that he wasn't going to get any more help out of his teammates, Mark shook his head, turned on his heel, and set off towards the explosives lab. Reaching the outer doors, he keyed in his access code. As the entry opened for him, he darted a glance around the room and smiled at the sight before him. Princess was sitting at one of the lab tables, sleeping peacefully with her head pillowed on her crossed arms. He quietly made his way over to her and squatted down at the end of the table silently watching her. Mark rarely got an opportunity to see her completely relaxed and this one wasn't going to be squandered. After a few minutes, he remembered where they were and the risk of being caught like this spurred him into motion.

Reaching out, he tenderly swept a few strands of dark hair back from her face as he drank in the scene before him for one last moment. Standing up, he considered waking her and sending her to her quarters, but then thought better of it as a slow grin spread across his face. Moving carefully so he wouldn't wake her, Mark gently lifted Princess into his arms and cradling her to his chest, he carried her to her room. He used his override code to open the door, barely waiting for it to retract fully before crossing to her bed. He laid her on the mattress and, after sliding her shoes from her feet, lovingly tucked the plush blankets around her. Princess moved slightly, burrowing deeper into the comfort of her bed, but as he turned to leave, Mark heard her murmur his name softly.

He stopped and slowly twisted around to face her again. Her arm was reaching out for him, as she repeated her call, "Mark, don't go…" In the near darkness of her room, Mark couldn't tell if her eyes were open or if she was merely talking in her sleep. Not sure what to do, he simply stood there for a moment and waited though he wasn't sure what he was waiting for. When he heard her whisper, "please…", he took a step back toward the bed. Slipping off his shoes, he laid down next to her. Princess shifted to place her head on his chest and sighed contentedly as she draped her arm across his torso. Not knowing what to do next, Mark slipped one hand under his head and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, holding her as she slept. He only meant to stay for a few minutes, until he was sure she wasn't going to awaken as he left. Instead, the comfort of the bed beneath him and the soft warmth of the woman snuggled against him lulled the commander to sleep as well.

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This chapter was inspired by fanart by Springie titled Sleeping Beauty. Check it out on her deviantArt page!


	2. Prompt 143 - Poison

Movement against his chest brought Mark from the depths of slumber to full wakefulness. His body was painfully stiff, as if he hadn't moved in hours and there was a weight holding down the entire right side of his body. Sudden fear washed over him as he tried to recall where he was and how he had gotten there. The unbearable numbness in his extremities made him wonder if he'd been drugged or poisoned. Slowly opening one eye just the smallest of slivers, he glanced around the room trying to determine his location.

It looked familiar, yet somehow wrong. The colors weren't right and there wasn't supposed to be a slim arm across his stomach, but what he could see looked remarkably like his quarters on Center Neptune. Taking that as a sign that he wasn't in mortal danger, he opened both eyes fully so that he could take in his surroundings completely. Following the arm that was draped across him, he was surprised to see a blue sleeve trimmed in red. Princess! Suddenly it all came back to him. He had been looking for her, for reasons that escaped him at the moment, only to find her asleep in the lab. He'd only meant to bring her to her room, but he couldn't resist when she softly asked him to stay. Somehow he must have nodded off while waiting for her to settle into a deeper sleep.

Now he had to find a way out of here before she woke up and found him in her bed. Normally that would be difficult enough to accomplish, but with half his body suffering from lack of circulation, this was going to prove a real challenge. First, he pulled his hand out from behind his head and slowly dangled it off the edge of the bed, hoping that gravity would speed in its recovery. He flexed his fingers, wincing at the pain of restored blood flow as his digits came alive once more. Satisfied that he had one working limb, he repeated those actions with his left leg, until he felt in control of that portion of his body as well. He took a deep breath knowing that the real challenge now lay before him, or was that on top of him. Working very carefully, he managed to get enough control of his right hand and arm to gently touch Princess's shoulder in an effort to get her to roll onto her other side.

As if understanding his clumsy request, she sighed deeply and rolled away from the commander's body, curling up on her right side. Smiling gently, he slipped the rest of the way out of the bed, before being forced to bite back a hiss as blood began to flow painfully throughout the rest of his body. He grabbed his shoes from the floor and began tiptoeing to the door, hoping to make good his escape. Just as he reached for the control panel, he heard a sound issue from his wrist communicator. Before he could touch the bracelet's face plate and silence the incoming message, Princess sat up and looked at him. "Mark? What are you doing here?" she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.


	3. Prompt 144 - Critical

Mark was caught and had to think fast. Quickly he slipped his shoe-filled hand behind his back, out of Princess's line of sight. Giving her an apologetic look, he raised his communicator to his mouth. "Mark here, ears on."

Blinking in confusion, Princess just continued to stare at her commander, taking in the soft pink glow that was rising along his cheeks.

"Mark, where are you? There still hasn't been any sign of Princess and an over-"

Before his second could finish his sentence, Mark cut in, "Hey, Jase. I found her. I'll fill you in later." The last thing he needed right now was for Jason to announce the use of an override code to get into Princess's quarters.

"Big-ten, Commander." Mark swore that he could hear the hint of a snicker come through as the transmission ended.

"Ummm… OK, see you later, Princess." Mark turned, carefully keeping his shoes out of sight as he reached up to press the door release.

"Not so fast, Commander. What was so critical that you had to sneak into my room?

"Oh. Ummm… It was nothing really. I'll just let myself out." He felt his cheeks flush an even brighter pink as he took a hesitant step backwards toward the door.

"Mark…" Fully awake now, Princess sat up on the edge of her bed and frowned thoughtfully. "For that matter, what am I doing here? The last thing I remember, I was working on some chemical equations in the explosives lab." She narrowed her eyes and focused her gaze on Mark, slowly raking her eyes up and down his frazzled form. "And where are your shoes?"

Realizing that he was well and truly caught, Mark decided to come clean and hoped that she would accept the truth for what it was and not read more into it. "Well, it's not what you think, or what it looks like… exactly. I was looking for you earlier and finally found you in the lab. But you had fallen asleep at your desk. I didn't want to wake you, so I carried you back here and put you to bed."

"And you had to do that in your socks?"

He looked at her sheepishly before speaking again. "No… But when I turned to leave, you asked me to stay. I was afraid you'd wake up if I didn't so I decided to lie down next to you. I only planned to wait until I was sure you were asleep and then I was going to leave, but I fell asleep too. When I woke up, I tried to leave quietly so you wouldn't wake up and be embarrassed."

"Mark, why would I be embarrassed by that? It's not like you took advantage of me, or came in here wearing nothing but whipped cream and a smile while holding a chocolate cake or something. That might have been embarrassing, though probably more for you than me." There was an odd twinkle in her eye as she watched him fidget.

He managed to both pale and blush furiously at the same time as she spoke. "Whipped cream and cake?" He practically squeaked. "You think I would sneak in here wearing whipped cream and cake?"

"No, you'd be *holding* the cake." She rolled her eyes and giggled as he took another step backwards, jumping as his back hit the door. "I'm just teasing you, Mark. I know you would never do something like that. Besides, that's more Jason's style."

He gulped audibly. "You've thought about this before?" He hadn't meant to say anything, the words just slipped out unbidden before he could stop them.

Princess shrugged. "I dunno, don't you fantasize about things, Mark?"

Mark blinked, eyes wide, as he wondered just how carrying Princess from the lab to her room had turned into a discussion about who on the team would be most likely to use dessert toppings as clothing. "Hey, did you hear that?" He brought his left wrist to his mouth once more and answered a non-existent call. "Mark here, ears on. What's that? I'm on my way." He looked back again at the girl sitting on the bed. "Big emergency. I gotta go. Bye, Princess." He turned, pressed the door release, and fled from the room before things could get any more awkward.

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The whipped cream and cake were the result of a discussion on Gatchamania and inspired by Springie's fanart. Her image, titled "Chocolate Cake" can be found on her deviantArt page.


	4. Prompt 145 - Loaded

Mark scrambled out of Princess's room as soon as the door was open wide enough to get through. He was sure that he heard the sound of muffled laughter following him down the passageway, but he wasn't about to stop and dwell on it. He raced through the corridors blindly, no thought to his destination. When his legs finally stopped moving, Mark found himself standing in front of the team's ready room. He looked at the door for a minute as he worked to bring his heartbeat back under control and slipped his shoes onto his feet. Finally satisfied that he was composed once more, Mark reached out and pressed the door release button.

Once the panel slid aside fully, Mark stepped into the room. Tiny and Jason looked as if they had barely moved in the last couple of hours. Jason's head lifted up, his eyebrow raised as he gave Mark's slightly disheveled appearance a good once-over. He waited a minute for his commander to say something, but when Mark remained silent, Jason decided to take matters into his own hands.

"You OK, Mark? Why'd you cut me off earlier? Everything alright with Princess?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's in her quarters. She'd fallen asleep in the lab." Mark dropped down onto the other end of the sofa, staring off blankly.

"OK, so then why do you look so shell-shocked?"

"It's just, well, we ended up having a really odd conversation…" He glanced at Jason out of the corner of his eye and then continued quietly. "Did you know that she's had fantasies about certain members of the team?"

Jason snickered as he watched his commander's cheeks flush a bright pink. "That's kind of a loaded question there, Mark. I guess I never really thought about her having fantasies about any of us, or our members."

Mark's face burned, darkening from pink to red as his blush spread to cover his ears and neck. He swallowed audibly. "Well, she does. And apparently she's decided that we each have a style or something."

Jason tossed his magazine aside and raised his eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "She has? What did she say?"

Mark gulped again then glanced around to assure himself that Tiny wasn't paying attention to the quiet conversation he was having with Jason. Satisfied that the other boy was completely engrossed in his burgers, Mark slid closer to Jason and lowered his voice conspiratorially, "She seems to think that dessert toppings and baked goods are more your style than mine."

Thankful for his cerebonically enhanced hearing, Jason's eyes widened at Mark's barely audible words. "Really? Well, now…" A mischievous glint formed his in eye.

Mark immediately paled as he realized what he'd just told Jason. "Jase, you can't do or say anything about this. Princess can't know I told you." He lifted his head to catch Jason's eye only to find that he was alone on the couch. Jason was gone!


	5. Prompt 146 - Showers

Mark's panicked gaze flashed around the room as he tried to figure out what to do. Thankful that Tiny still appeared unaware of the situation unfolding around him, Mark stood up and slipped from the room. Once safely in the corridor with the door to the ready room closed behind him, he brought his communicator to his mouth, "Mark to Jason. Answer me Jason. Where are you?"

A muffled hissing sound was the only reply he received. It lasted for a brief handful of seconds before abruptly cutting out leaving Mark staring at the pale band in wonder.

Trying once more, Mark spoke again, frustration evident in his voice. "Jason? Is everything OK? I didn't quite get that last transmission."

Once again, the commander's bracelet issued forth a soft hissing sound. This time there was also the sound of murmured human voices in the background, but even his cerebonically enhanced hearing wasn't enough to allow Mark to make out what was being said.

As concern began to override his aggravation with Jason, Mark decided to try a different tactic to locate his wayward second. "Mark calling 7-Zark-7, come in Zark. I need your help."

"Zark here, Commander. How can I help you today? You know I am always eager to assist the members of G-Force in any way possible. Why just-"

"Zark, I need you to find Jason for me. Can you give me a location on his bracelet?" Mark hated to be rude, but he knew if he let the robot continue speaking uninterrupted, it would be days before he got a word in edgewise.

"Of course, Commander. Jason's bracelet is currently… Well that's odd. There must be a mistake in the sensor grid. It looks like Jason's communicator is in the women's locker room. Specifically, just outside the showers. That can't be right. I'll have to run a diagnostic and get back to you."

Mark closed his eyes and groaned softly. "He wouldn't, would he?" Mark whispered quietly to himself. A sense of dread settled into the pit of the commander's stomach as he made his way to the gymnasium.


	6. Prompt 147 - Been There, Done That

As Mark approached the training room, he debated his next move. He really wasn't excited about just barging into the women's locker area, though he wasn't sure what other options he had if Jason was in there planning trouble. He considered trying to contact Princess and asking her to see what was going on, but he worried that if he did, she would find out that he had told Jason about her fantasies. That train of thought just made the knot in his stomach twist further. What could Jason be up to in there?

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reached out, pushing the door open a few inches. Pitching his voice to reach the furthest corners of the large room, Mark bellowed, "Anyone in here? We got an odd signal from in here and I need to check it out." He strained his cerebonically enhanced hearing to the limits of his abilities, trying to catch any sound from beyond the door. When his words were met with silence, he took a deep breath and pushed the door open far enough to permit him entry.

Slipping into the room, Mark willed himself to act natural. "C'mon Mark, it's just a locker room. Been there, done that, no big deal," he whispered under his breath. Sweeping his eyes around the room, he took in the rows of lockers and benches. There was nothing out of place, not even a t-shirt, certainly no sign of Jason's communicator bracelet. Sighing, the commander resigned himself to moving further into the room, each step carrying him that much deeper into a literal no man's land.

As he crossed the dressing area and neared the showers, his heart hammered louder and louder within his chest. When he reached the end of the final row of lockers, he could hear the faint hiss of a running shower. Gulping, Mark called out to announce himself to whoever was in there. He hoped that he had only imagined his voice cracking as he spoke. Once again, his call was met with silence. He took another few steps, his eyes scanning for Jason or his bracelet the entire time. Finding himself just a few feet away from the running shower, he made one more attempt to get the attention of the room's occupant. "Hello? Anyone in there?" His only response was the uninterrupted sound of water spraying from the showerhead. Not knowing what else to do, and having nowhere else to look, he took the last few steps towards the shower stalls.


	7. Prompt 148 - Scar

Mark slowly closed the remaining distance between himself and the first shower stall. Keeping his eyes averted, he listened for a moment and was able to determine that this was not where the sound of running water was coming from. He looked quickly into the tiled chamber, but there was still no sign of Jason or his communicator. Feeling more and more uncomfortable the longer he remains in the women's locker room, Mark considered contacting Zark again, but quickly put that thought out of his head. He was more afraid of the response he would receive from the chatty robot than any scar on his record should he get caught skulking around.

Approaching the next stall, Mark felt the humid steam begin to coat his exposed skin. Dreading the scream that was sure to result from the occupant finding him there, Mark tapped at the vinyl shower curtain, hoping it would be enough to announce his presence. Yet he still received no response. He wondered just how unaware the bather could be and vowed to suggest some refresher training once he could make an identification. Raising his voice, he announced his presence yet again. He grew concerned when he still didn't receive a response. There was no reason for anyone to not be able to hear him at this close range.

His nerves suddenly dissipated as he slipped into command mode. With one quick movement, he twitched the curtains back and stifled a curse at what he found. Carefully, he stepped into the stall and twisted the taps until the spray of water stopped completely. A deep scowl formed on his face as he approached the shower chair strategically placed in the corner of the tiled cubicle just out of reach of the spray. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he worked to calm his temper. Opening them again, he reached down, picked up Jason's communicator, and studied the blinking light it emitted. Mark stood and mentally translated the repeating message. Growling, he put the bracelet into his pocket and opened the cooler that remained on the seat. After looking inside, he slammed the lid closed and grabbed the cooler's handle before turning and marching quickly from the locker room.


	8. Prompt 149 - Pillow

Mark strode purposefully down the hallway, the cooler swinging from his clenched fist. He barely stopped long enough to glance into the ready room as he stomped past in search of his prey. The Eagle was on the hunt, but his target was proving elusive. He searched the cafeteria, the vehicle maintenance bay, and the briefing room. Mark was so desperate to leave no area unsearched that he even risked peeking into Zark's control room. Nearly an hour after he started searching, Mark was on the verge of giving up when he finally found the person he was looking for.

Jason reclined beneath one of the tall trees dotting the island's beach. Catching a glimpse of Mark from the corner of his eye, a smirk formed on his face. Jason didn't bother to speak or tear his eyes from the ocean view before him, waiting instead for his commander to make the first move. A few strides through the powdery sand brought Mark to his second's side. He took in the sight before him in silence. Jason's hands were laced behind his head acting as a pillow, his eyes half lidded, and his feet crossed leisurely at the ankles. The condor was the epitome of relaxation.

Realizing that Jason wasn't going to react to his presence, Mark held the cooler over Jason's midsection before abruptly releasing it. Calling on his cerebonically enhanced reflexes, Jason was able to reach out and easily catch the plastic box before it could make contact with his body. He gently set it down next to him before turning his gaze to his commander and raising one eyebrow, his smirk threatening to become a full blown smile.

"What's the meaning of that, Jason?" Mark pointed to the cooler resting next to Jason in the sand.

"Didn't you get the message I left with it? I thought the directions were pretty clear," Jason murmured lazily. His lips twitched in amusement as he looked back out to the gentle waves lapping at the shore.

Mark reached into his pocket at the reminder of the coded message still flashing from the face of Jason's communicator. Withdrawing the pale blue band, he flipped it to Jason with a grunt. "Seriously, what kind of game are you playing, Jason?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mark. I'm playing a game. Just trying to help you out," he drawled. Jason bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to keep his expression neutral.

"Jason…" Mark's voice lowered to a menacing growl. "Apply generously to area in need of attention… Do what comes naturally…?"

Jason chuckled as he noticed Mark clenching and unclenching his fists. "What, you don't have areas in need of attention?" His eyebrow rose beneath his hairline as he turned to stare his commander in the eyes. Steel met sky in a battle of wills that neither was willing to concede. "C'mon, Mark, live a little for a change. You've got an opportunity here." Jason knocked on the cooler, his knuckles eliciting a thumping sound from the rigid plastic. "Don't you hear it knocking? Are you willing to let it slip through your fingers?"

Mark just stared at him speechless. He looked from his friend to the cooler and back again as he chewed on his lower lip. Jason was right. Opportunity was knocking, no pounding, on the door. But was he willing to answer it?


	9. Prompt 150 - Erupt

Mark stared at the cooler in silence for a few minutes, lost in his own thoughts. He started at the sound of Jason's voice then blinked a few times before focusing on his second's face in confusion. "What was that again, Jase?"

Jason quirked an eyebrow and suppressed a chuckle at his commander. "I asked if you were gonna use the cooler or not."

Mark took in the expectant expression on Jason's face and felt his own erupt in flames. Did he misinterpret what Jason was implying? He couldn't mean… Mark gulped and stared at Jason again.

"Mark, seriously, are you alright? Did your implant short circuit or something?" He vaulted to his feet, placed his hands on Mark's shoulders, and stared into his eyes in concern.

"N… no… It's not my implant. Jason, you weren't implying that I use the cooler's contents with… I mean, I'm flattered, but…" His face felt like it was on fire and he could no longer look his friend in the eye.

"WHAT?" Jason jumped backwards, his hands waving in the air in front of him. "Are you crazy, Mark? Maybe there *is* something wrong with your implant. That was for you & Princess. Why would you think I wanted you to…? With me…? I mean, I care about you and all, Mark, but not like *that*!" Jason shook his head in confusion.

"I… well… You went to all that trouble and well… I dunno." Mark shrugged and stared innocently at Jason.

"Please tell me you weren't thinking of taking me up on that imagined offer. No offense, but you're not my type," he smirked.

Mark let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. He rubbed a hand across his face and chuckled as he reopened his eyes, "That's a load off my mind. I was worried about how you were going to take it when I said 'no'."

The two young men sank to the sand, their laughter carrying on the ocean breeze.


	10. Prompt 151 - Prime Suspect

As their laughter died down, Mark turned to Jason with a thoughtful look on his face. He pursed his lips, but remained silent. Jason, feeling his commander's stare, twisted to the side and quirked an eyebrow. "What, Mark? I know that look. Just spit out whatever it is that's on your mind."

Mark took a deep breath then shook his head. "Jase?" he started hesitantly.

"Mark, just say whatever it is before your head explodes," Jason snickered.

"Well, I just have to ask. What would you have done if… well," Mark stopped and gulped audibly then turned away from Jason. "What would you have done if I had thought you were offering and I wanted to take you up on it?"

"Well, for one thing, I would have made it perfectly clear to you that you were mistaken about the offer. And I do mean PERFECTLY CLEAR." Jason stated matter-of-factly. "Why are you even asking about this?"

Mark shrugged. "No real reason, just curious is all."

"Mark, are you trying to tell me something?" Jason asked quietly.

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing like that." Mark shook his head slowly. "That was just idle curiosity."

"Alright then, what's really on your mind?"

"What makes you think there is still something on my mind?"

"Because if someone had given me that," Jason pointed to the cooler, "and told me to go use it with a girl I wanted to be with, I wouldn't be sitting on the beach talking to you."

Mark sat quietly for a few minutes just staring out at the glistening surface of the water. "Well, that's just it. What if she doesn't feel the same way? She did say that you were her prime suspect for one of these stunts, not me. What if she wants that from you?"

Jason sighed deeply. "Trust me, it's you she wants."

"Are you sure? What makes you think so?"

Jason chewed his bottom lip for a moment as he came to a decision. "Because she told me. Do you really think that everything that's happened today has been coincidence? This whole thing has been her idea."

Mark's eyes grew wide as he listened to Jason. "But, your bracelet was in the women's locker room."

"Mark, do you really think that if I snuck into the women's shower room, I would have just left things for you instead of finding a way to 'entertain' myself?" Jason smirked.

"But why your bracelet? Why the women's locker room?" Mark's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Would you have gone in after her bracelet in the women's showers? Or would you have been the one to find it in the men's locker?" Jason asked. "She wanted to be sure you'd go looking for it and find it. Now, the real question is what are you going to do about it? Are you going to give the girl what she wants?"


	11. Prompt 152 - Downpour

Mark looked at Jason for a minute, unsure what to do or how much of the story was real. Could he just show up at Princess's door like that? He grabbed the cooler and pulled it in front of him before opening it and looking inside.

"Mark, do you really think that anything in there is going to talk to you and tell you what to do?"

"No, of course not. Just thinking…"

Jason raised an eyebrow questioningly as he glanced between his commander and the open cooler. "Thinking? How much thinking do you need to do?"

"Look, Jason, I'm not you. I can't just show up and expect things. It's just not me. Princess was right. This whole thing is more your style than mine. Maybe it's just not meant to be." Mark's voice dropped to a whisper and he shook his head before closing the cooler once more and shoving it towards Jason.

"C'mon, Mark. What's the worst that can happen?"

Mark looked at Jason, a serious expression on his face as he answered. "She could laugh at me. She could be insulted and never want to speak to me again. Things could get really awkward between us. We do still have to work together no matter what happens, you know. She's not like your track groupies; I can't just avoid her if things take a bad turn."

"Mark, trust me, things will be fine. She wants this. Heck she picked out the cake…"

Mark let out a soft snicker as he traced his fingers through the powdery sand before him. "Yeah, chocolate lava cake is her favorite."

"So… Look, as much as I like your company and all, there's somewhere else you should be."

As if to prove that Jason was right, just at that moment there was a bright flash of light and an ominous rumble echoed across the beach. Mark looked to the suddenly cloudy sky and sighed in resignation. "Alright, I give. I'll go visit Princess." As he stood up, the sky opened up and both boys were caught in a torrential downpour and soaked to the skin in seconds. Mark grabbed the cooler and they both ran to the door that led back into the hidden base.


	12. Prompt 153 - Brash

As soon as the door closed behind them, Mark and Jason began to shiver as water dripped from their hair and clothing to form puddles at their feet. With no other choice, they began to make their way back to the team's residential area in search of warm showers and clean, dry clothes. By the time they neared their destination, both boys' teeth were chattering and their hands were numb from the cold.

As they passed the ready room, they almost collided with Keyop as he exited. His head was turned back to the room as he walked. "OK, *root-doot*, Tiny, if you *arr* see either, *boop-breep* tell Princess."

"Careful, Keyop." Mark said quietly as he tried to move quickly enough to avoid bumping into the boy.

"Mark! Jason! *deep-boop* Princess looking for you. *aroo* What happened? You go *bleep-dorp* swimming?" He eyed his two teammates and the trail of water behind them.

"Ha ha... No, we got caught in the rain. Now if you don't mind, we'd better to go warm up and dry off." Jason said before he and Mark hurried off to their quarters, their shoes making squishing sounds as they walked.

Mark let himself into his room and placed the cooler on a chair near the door before peeling off his clothing. He tossed the drenched mass into the bathroom sink before letting a hot shower chase the chill from his body.

When he at last felt like himself again, he exited the bathroom wrapped in a towel and began to gather fresh clothing. Before he was finished, there was a knock at his door. He checked to make sure that his important bits were covered and then opened the door to find Princess standing in the hallway.

"Princess! What are you doing here? I was just, umm... I mean I just, umm…" He let the rest of the sentence trail off awkwardly as a blush rose to his cheeks. He stepped to one side of the door, his arm stretched out behind him. "Did you want to come in?"

"Sure." She stepped into his quarters and glanced at the cooler as she passed it.

"Umm… Give me a minute to go get dressed, OK?" He fumbled around, grabbed the items he'd tossed onto the bed, and ducked into the bathroom before she could say anything.

When he emerged a minute later, Princess was perched on the side of his bed, the open cooler on her knees. He gulped before pulling the now vacant chair over towards the bed. Straddling it, he leaned his arms across the back and watched her examine the contents of the cooler.

Without looking up, Princess started speaking quietly. "What's this for, Mark? Did you have plans with someone tonight?"

"What? Me? Plans? Uh-no. I think that was just Jason's way of trying to set me up. I'd never be that brash. You know that. You pointed out how that's more Jason's style than mine didn't you?"

"Mark, I didn't mean it like that. He's just more impulsive than you are. I'm sure you're spontaneous in your own way. So what are you going to do with this? Seems a shame to let this delicious looking cake and whipped cream go to waste."


	13. Prompt 154 - Skirt

Mark looked at the woman perched on his bed, her face twisted into an impish grin. He smiled back and chuckled softly. "Alright, I guess if Jason went to all that trouble to get it, the least we can do is enjoy it. I'll be right back." Mark stood up quickly and left the room.

He made his way to the cafeteria where he grabbed a few paper plates and some plastic silverware. Spying the other members of the G-Force team Mark chose to skirt the outside of the room away from where they were. The last thing he wanted to do now was answer awkward questions from his friends. Fleeing the cafeteria, he raced back to his room in an effort to make it there unseen.

Opening the door to his quarters, he slipped inside to find that Princess had removed the cake and the can of whipped cream from the cooler and placed them on his desk. He crossed the room quickly and deposited the items in his hand next to the dessert. Mark picked up a plastic knife and swiftly cut the cake into neat slices, carefully making sure that the gooey, chocolate filling remained intact. Taking a plate from Princess, he slid a piece on the chocolate dessert onto it. He handed it back to her and repeated his actions with a second dish. Princess picked up the can of whipped cream and sprayed a neat blob onto her dessert. She gestured to the plate in Mark's hand, her eyebrows raised in question. He nodded in response and she carefully squirted the cake with a layer of the creamy whipped topping. She smiled mischievously before suddenly flipping her wrist up and releasing a stream of the sweet dairy concoction into his face.

Mark stood sputtering in shock as the white foam dripped from his face. He blinked rapidly and then reached up to wipe the mess from his eyes. He looked at his hand for a moment before grinning and flicking it at Princess. She shrieked as the gooey mass splattered onto her face. Suddenly they both stopped and started at each other before dissolving into laughter.

When they regained their composure and were able to bring their breathing back under control, Princess spoke quietly. "I'm sorry, Mark. Here let me help you with that." She picked up a napkin and began to gently dab at the smeared mess on his face. She bent closer in order to better see where the cream still needed to be wiped away. Their eyes met and her hand stilled then dropped to her side, her chore forgotten.

Blue eyes remained locked on green ones as the space between them slowly disappeared. Mark slowly reached up to push a stray lock of sticky hair from her face before his eyes drifted closed. He could feel her breath on his lips, could smell the sweetness of the whipped cream on her skin. Conscious thought fled and he acted on instinct, allowing his lips to gently brush against hers. His hand slid into her hair as she returned the kiss, their embrace growing more passionate.

Princess draped her arms around Mark's neck as she returned his kiss. She quickly tapped out a private message on her bracelet and transmitting it to Jason. "Success, the Eagle has landed. Thanks."


End file.
